Are you a hoarder of useless crap?

Daz · Aug 2005

Ya know, it struck me recently when a neighbour died and I saw the dumpster being filled up with useless junk from his house by his family for the following couple of weeks, that as a species we are hoarders in the exteme. I've always been a fan of the minimalist look to things personally but I know I have a ton of crap that i dont ever use or need. And then I saw this this morning. My worst nightmare:

http://www.auctions-registration.com/ebay/

I guess she must have OCD, but it's pretty scary

ElysiumGX · Aug 2005

holy crap!

<----lights a match and tosses it in her window.

save what's valuable bitch!

Kevin Johnstone · Aug 2005

That's not a woman, thats a magpie!
r.

James Edwards · Aug 2005

I've been in a house like that before. It was... unsettling. The only room to move in the whole place was a corridor carved through the piles of stuff that allowed movement through the inside. Even the hallways were stuffed. 0_o

I was just pondering this the other day and I guess I lean more towards minimalist too. The realization hit me when I was driving down my street on the way home. Most of the houses are less than a year old and I was shocked to see people's open garages filled to the ceiling with crap! There wasn't any room to even park their cars!

Every year or so I go through my stuff and get rid of whatever doesn't seem to have a use. Most of what I/we consider our useless crap, the woman and I keep in the crawlspace under our stairs - with plenty of room to spare!

I have noticed that I do have a weakness for retaining old computer parts though - most of which I will never ever use again. Currently working up the courage to throw it all out though...

Scott Ruggels · Aug 2005

My house doesn't look that bad, but yeah I do hoard things. Mostly military items, books and weapons.

Scott

ScoobyDoofus · Aug 2005

My brother is like this with toys & such.

He has a massive model/toy/merchandise collection for anything star-trek & star-wars related. Oh, and porn.
Our apartment used to be busting at the seams with boxes of crap he hadnt seen in years. He would get angry if any of his "valuable" garbage was disturbed or moved.

Hollowmind · Aug 2005

Hehe, my best friend from high school's parents' house used to look like that, except worse. It wasn't that neat. You actually had to wade through it to get anywhere in the house. I remember being over there once and he said it was time to feed the cats. He opened the can of cat food and just turned it over and let it fall on the floor.

I find it hard to throw away my old PC game boxes for some odd reason. Used have a closet full of them. And I like to collect anything with a skull on it. I buy all sorts of knick knacks like that during Halloween to keep on display year round. My gf likes to collect evil looking things like that, too. Other than that I don't really horde stuff and my house fairly clutter free.

Oh yeah, and old magazines. I know I won't read them again but I still have a hard time throwing them away after I finish reading them.

KRakarth · Aug 2005

no but my wife is, she has cupboards full of crap.

Gmanx · Aug 2005

I'm a hoarder (particularly of old PC crap - like Gwot) married to a minimalist. Life is never dull...My stuff regularly gets trashed, usually while I'm at work. OK it's useless junk, but it's MY useless junk. I know a guy like the Ebay Mom though, he has rooms full of magazines, all now ruined with dry-rot. The upper floors of his house are unsafe and won't take his weight anymore. He's just waiting for the ceiling to come crashing down, along with all that junk.

hawken · Aug 2005

best to keep a room for this stuff.

my sister on the other hand hordes all over her house. Some of the stuff is shit I aint seen since I was given it as birthday presents as a 9 year old.

Jeff Parrott · Aug 2005

I tend to keep things on the exterior very minimalist. But fill my closets, cabinets, boxes, garage, etc with insane amounts of useless junk. My wife thinks it's histarical cause everyone thinks I'm really neat and tidy. About once a year or when we move (most often moving) I tend to go through the junk and take boxes to goodwill and the dump.

Thegodzero · Aug 2005

I'm living in one of two homes that were given to us, both filled to the brim with junk. The guy died 10 months ago. After seeing how much junk he had, i vowed to never let myself have more stuff than can be fit in a 12ft uhaul van. I also make sure that if i dont wear something or use something for more than a year that i give it away or throw it away. When i moved last time i started "packing" two months before i moved to get rid of all my extra crap. The house i'm living inrite now i have cleared out one room out of the two and cleared half of the living room and kitchen. I cant do more as its not my stuff to get rid of.

Don't be a packrat, when you die your family will hate you for it. Only keep what you use and need, and find of personal meaning.

PaK · Aug 2005

My first room i rented in a house here in california (1 mile from work) was much like this.

-R

flaagan · Aug 2005

my mom's pretty bad at it, and has worn down my dad over the years to the point where i'm actually arguing with him instead of her about the fact we need to get rid of crap.
i'm somewhat bad about it... but considering the car and computer parts that litter my room are actually from projects i'm working on, i guess it's more of a lack of organization than hoarding.

JKMakowka · Aug 2005

I am trying to be minimalist too (my 16m² studenthome room could be still called 'spacey'

)... and I recently had to help a few people move... it really is almost scary.

It sure seems to be a lot worse with females, though.
Have you ever been at IKEA (the temple of useless crap) with a woman? It's my worst nightmare I tell you

ymalaika · Aug 2005

Oh man. A member of my family is like this too, but worse.

Apparently it's a form of mental illness associated with Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder. Basically, one has an irrational fear of throwing things away. They are sure they will need it one day, even if it's garbage or easily replaceable.

This type of thing can be tough because there's a whole spectrum between "clutter" and "disfunction". It's normal to keep stuff we enjoy, but when it starts to interfere with your well being and that of your family, prefessional help is needed.

I really feel for the guy, knowing first hand just how painful and frustrating it can be for everyone involved.

EarthQuake · Aug 2005

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I have noticed that I do have a weakness for retaining old computer parts though - most of which I will never ever use again. Currently working up the courage to throw it all out though...

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Yeah, i went and threw away a bunch of old parts and cases, but i still have 3 or 4 boxes of shit that MIGHT be used SOMEDAY, hahahaha.

Sean McBride · Aug 2005

Thats scary O.O. My father is a big horder... he was raised that way for some wacked out reason. Its like his parents were stuck in the "oh my god we have to save every little thing otherwise when we ARE broke we'll have tons of crap to... burn... for heat... or something". I myself hate it... so all I have is my computer junk, my bed, and my clothing.

My room is... very bare.

I like it that way though.

I think it was obvious to me when my dad was trying to get me to replace a fried powersupply with one that was in the FIRST computer I ever owned (a pentium 90). Honestly... did he think that think would be compatable? What did he do when i said "oh i'm just headed to compusa to pick up a new one. I'll just get a more powerful one anyway."? He offered to "Modify" the old one using the male connector on the fried powersupply. All I could do was look at him like he was crazy and start laughing. So yeah, we have about 3-4 moniter boxes of crap computer parts from the mid 90s...

So thats my hoarder story.

motives · Aug 2005

fuck off! i actually had to go clean my apartment after seeing that...

Thermidor · Aug 2005

when i moved a few months back , i threw a load of stuff away , and it included a massive bunch of old pcs and parts that go with them ... shame , cos i know that somone could use a p3 and 2 p2s.

CheapAlert · Aug 2005

you crazy not only i have tons of useless crap i LIVE ON IT

MoP · Aug 2005

My dad's uncle who died this year apparently had Diogenes syndrome, which caused him to hoard loads of useless crap. And I mean a LOT. That woman's house looks well-organised compared to the state my dad found his uncle's in when they went to clean it out.

Basically you couldn't see the floor in most of the rooms, there were newspapers, boxes and plastic bags everywhere, it was impossible to actually get into half of the rooms due to all the accumulated crap.

Basically he kept stuff thinking it might be useful later, but didn't seem to notice how messed up the whole house was. And he'd never sell any of it (like this woman seems to be doing) ... it was ridiculous... I'll see if I can scan some of the photos... not a pretty sight.

pogonip · Aug 2005

Funny although the house is full of crap and nick nacks ..etc etc it's actually looks pretty clean . Folded clothes ,surfaces where you can see them look clean...bed made..kinda wierd psycosis..

shotgun · Aug 2005

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I guess she must have OCD, but it's pretty scary

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what's OCD? is it a vegetable fetish?

KDR_11k · Aug 2005

http://www.google.com/search?q=define:OCD

danr · Aug 2005

yes - i've thrown so many things away that i've really wanted or needed shortly afterwards, i became gradually scared of losing anything.

Had a (enforced) trip to the dump not long ago though, that was strangely cathartic ... though, the only benefit i can see is having more space in the cupboards to fit more useless old shit in.

Are you a hoarder of useless crap?

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